Ranma 1/2: A New Beginning
by immortalwriter
Summary: *Chapter 5 is finally up!* A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic that starts with a new beginning and continues on with a hopefully original story. Warning: Character personalities changed slight to majorly to allow for differences in story.
1. The Curse of Jusenkyo

Ranma ½: A New Beginning  
Episode 1: The Curse of Jusenkyo  
Notes: ( )= Means someone's speaking in Chinese, ' '= Means someone is thinking. And,  
As I realized shortly after I sent this out the first time, I had several spelling, and grammer  
mistakes, plus I discovered that my hotmail password didn't work, so this is the corrected  
version with my correct e-mail adress.  
  
"C'mon old man! I'll give up martial arts the day you beat me in a fight!" Ranma shouted   
at his father as he perched on a bamboo pole and tuned out the guide who was   
frantically warning him in broken Japanese about the curse of the springs. Genma   
laughed and shouted back,  
  
"Then prepare to give up the art, boy!" With that, he launched himself from the pole he   
was standing on and attacked Ranma with a vicious flying kick combo. Ranma laughed   
in the face of the attack, and dodged the quick blows, even countered with a kick that   
sent Genma back to the pole he had attacked from. Genma smiled sinisterly at his son,   
  
"You're getting much better Ranma, but there's one thing you forgot . . ." Genma paused   
for a moment, then flurried into motion, throwing ten cutting knives he'd stolen from a   
butcher a few towns back. Ranma, surprised by Genma's strange choice of attacks,   
didn't leap fast enough as the bamboo pole that held him up fell in two. "On this battle   
field, your footing can be taken from you." Genma declared with a wide smile of victory   
as Ranma fell into the pool below his pole with a rather large splash. He watched the   
pool for several moments, waiting for his son to emerge. But instead of his still yet to be   
a man among men of a son, he found himself looking at a rather busty red head who bore   
a striking resemblance to his son.  
  
The guide moved over to the now girl's side and helped her from the pool.  
"I very sorry, you fall in Nyanniichuan, very sad story of young girl who drown there   
one-thousand-five-hundred years ago."Ranma-chan looked down at herself and noticed   
that her chest seemed to be sticking out much farther that it should have.  
  
"What happened?" Asked Ranma, her voice now an octave higher. Ranma-chan   
clapped her hands across her mouth, her eyes rather frightened looking, like a deer   
caught in headlights. The guide continued,  
  
"Now you turn into girl anytime you splashed with cold water, and turn back to normal   
form whenever splashed with hot." Ranma-chan blinked a few times, then opened up   
her gi and looked down at her breasts.  
  
"Oh shit." She whispered quietly. Meanwhile, wondering what had happened to his son,   
Genma had gotten off of the pole and moved up behind the girl.  
  
"Excuse me young lady, but could you tell me if you saw an unconscious young man in   
the pool you just came out of?" Ranma-chan turned on her father.  
  
"It's me pop!" Genma looked at her incredulously.  
  
"My child is a boy." The guide chose that moment to intervene.  
  
"Yes sir, this is your son, he fall into Nyanniichuan, spring of drowned girl." Genma   
blinked,  
  
"Ranma?" He asked as he looked at her like she was radioactive.  
  
"Yeah it's me." Ranma-chan answered, sounding rather depressed now. After a few   
more moments of silence, Genma laughed aloud and clapped his son on the back.  
  
"Well look at the bright side son! Now you can have it both ways however you want it!"   
With his eyes closed, Genma didn't notice the angry vein that had appeared on   
Ranma-chan's forehead. In one fluid motion, she stepped away from her father,   
and gave him the hardest roundhouse she had ever performed. Genma's neck cracked,   
and he flew across the training ground until he was stopped by a bamboo pole. With a   
single moan of pain, he slid into the pool, the one that the guide had named as   
Shonmaoniichuan, the spring of drowned panda.   
  
"I am not gay!" Ranma-chan turned to the guide, "Do you have any hot water?" The guide   
started nodding vigorously,  
  
"Yes, as soon as you start fight, I heat some." He then turned and went to his hut,   
returning with a small tea kettle. Ranma-chan took the water and doused herself,   
reverting to his normal form.  
  
"Arigato, and one more thing, may I have this kettle?" The guide laughed nervously,  
  
"Yes, please, I have many more." Ranma bowed deeply.  
  
"Arigato. Can you please not tell my father which way I go, I'm not feeling too   
happy with him right now." Ranma shot a glare at the small stream of bubbles rising   
from the pool. The guide returned the bow.  
  
"You have my word." Ranma thanked him again and walked off in the direction of the   
nearest town.  
  
Hours later, Ranma walked into the village, regretting that he hadn't eaten   
breakfast that morning.  
"Oh god! I'm so hungry!" Ranma moaned as he stumbled into town. 'And I don't   
have any money!' Ranma fell heavily on the ground. As he lay there, hoping a duck or   
something would fall on him, one of the pedestrians stopped next to him.  
  
"Hey! Boy!" Ranma looked up weakly at the man. "That's a nice shirt and pants, if you   
have anymore, I'll buy them from you." A weak smile crossed Ranma's face.  
  
"Do you have any food?"  
  
"Sure, one second." The man ran into a nearby ramen store and came back bearing a   
large bowl. "Here you go."  
  
"Thanks." Ranma reached back into his pack and removed a few pairs of cloths. "And   
here you go."The man walked off, leaving Ranma to his feast. He ate it all in almost one   
bite. Having eaten something, Ranma felt revitalized and looked at the town around him   
with much more alert eyes. That's when he noticed a small flier on the building next to   
him. It read, "Come see some of the greatest cat fights in China, an all woman's martial   
arts tournament, where the winner will receive fifty dollars, American!" Ranma took a   
moment to think. 'I need the money, and I'll probably win even in my girl form.' He mulled   
the idea for about another minute before he shouted aloud, "I'll do it!"  
  
He had done it, so far. Ranma-chan had easily beaten all of the other challengers.   
Now she was preparing to fight an Amazon woman by the name of Shampoo. "Alright   
Ranma, just one more win and then you won't have to worry about money for a while."   
Ranma-chan clapped her hands twice, smiled, and went out into the arena. She noticed   
that just as she was entering, so was her opponent. 'Whoa!' Ranma-chan's jaw dropped.  
'She's beautiful.' Beautiful didn't do her justice. Lavender hair that hung down to her waist,   
exotic green eyes that could hold you attention for hours, the kind of figure a super model   
wished for, with legs that just went on and on. But she was broken out of her thoughts by the   
crowd's cries for the fight to start. "I better get this over with quick." She whispered as she   
moved to the center of the arena. Someone rang a gong, and both fighters dropped into combat   
stances. The other girl said something in Chinese to Ranma-chan, then launched a   
volley of punches. Ranma-chan, utilizing the superior speed her female form possessed,  
dodged the punches, and then dropped low for a sweep kick.   
  
The girl jumped over the sweep and came down about three feet away, not quite so   
eager to attack Ranma head on. 'If she won't come to me . . .' Ranma-chan thought as she ran at   
her, ready with her fist. But at the last second, she kicked low, knocking the Amazon's legs   
out from under her. Then she came in with her fist, a powerful haymaker. Her opponent threw   
up her arms in defense, which kept her from taking any major damage, but sent her sliding   
across the arena. She recovered quickly and was back up again in time to dodge Ranma-chan's   
next attack.  
  
But as soon as she was up and ready, Ranma-chan had already begun her charge, and  
was just about to throw her punch. The girl dodged this time, her arms still slightly numb from the  
last hit. But what she failed to notice was that Ranma had halted her charge moments before   
throwing the punch, so she wasn't ready for the kick to her side. Air shot from her lungs in a   
great whoosh, and she collapsed to the ground, trying her hardest to breath again. When she   
noticed Ranma-chan's legs in front of her, she expected a cruel kick to the face to finish the fight.   
But instead she found a pair of hands on her shoulders, gently helping her to her feet. The   
referee declared Ranma the winner and gave her a voucher to get the prize money. Ranma-chan   
gingerly led the girl over to her locker room. "Sorry about that last kick, it was just the easiest way to   
the end of the fight." She then took a step back. "I'm Ranma Saotome." She offered her hand, and   
Shampoo took it numbly.  
  
"Shampoo." She whispered quietly.  
  
"Cool. Well I've got to go, I'll give you a holler if I ever happen to be in the Amazon   
village." Ranma-chan left, wanting to get back to her normal body as quickly as possible.   
Shampoo didn't move. 'Ranma was nice to me, nicer then even my own mother.'  
  
"(Shampoo!)" She started and looked at her great grand mother, a two foot tall crone,   
wizened with extreme age, who did most of her moving about by hopping with her   
staff. But her obvious age belied her true power, she was a shiatsu master, and an   
incredible warrior in her day.  
  
"(Yes Great grandmother?)" Cologne gave Shampoo an evil look.  
  
"(Go after her!)" It suddenly occurred to Shampoo that she was supposed to continue to   
fight any outsider girl that defeated her, until she emerged the victor.  
  
"(Yes Great grandmother!)" Shampoo said as she turned to follow Ranma, though she   
wasn't sure whether she was following Ranma because of her tribal law, or because she   
got a very strange feeling when she thought about the powerful warrior girl.  
  
"Great, I'm already out of money." Ranma lamented as he walked along one of the back   
paths of the china wilderness. 'Sometimes I really wish I didn't eat so much!' He thought   
furiously. Little did he know that just a few hundred feet behind him, Shampoo was quickly   
following. It had taken her awhile for her to find Ranma-chan's trail, since it mysteriously   
disappeared shortly after the arena. But then she found it, and followed it like a blood hound.   
Shampoo would have had to chase Ranma for another few days, if it weren't for a chance   
meeting between Ranma and an old friend.  
  
"Ranma, I can't believe my luck! You're going to pay for standing me up!"  
  
"Ryouga! I didn't stand you up! I waited three days, and you never showed!" Before Ranma  
stood a young man he remembered well. Wearing a yellow shirt, black pants and yellow   
bandanna with black polka dots on it, he was the very image of a warrior. Unless of course  
you knew him. Shy to the extreme, he got a nosebleed anytime a girl talked to him in any  
kind of romantic way, and he possessed the absolute worst direction sense on the planet,  
if he had any idea of where he wanted to go was, it would take him months to find it, even  
if it was just next door.  
  
"It doesn't matter Saotome! We're going to have that fight right here and now!" Ryouga   
removed a bamboo umbrella from his back pack. "I'll make you pay for that humiliation!"   
He struck out with the umbrella, using an underhand swing that would have caused   
Ranma great pain had he still been standing there. But Ranma had jumped at the last   
second, kicking out with all his strength and catching Ryouga full in the face. He flew   
back from the force of the blow, smashing against a tree hard enough to knock half of   
it's roots out of the ground. Ranma smiled smugly,  
  
"You always were too easy to beat Ryouga." But the smug smile fell off Ranma's face   
as Ryouga climbed back to his feet, looking only a little worse for the wear. Now it was   
Ryouga who possessed the smug smile.  
  
"I've changed quite a bit since our last fight, and I won't be nearly as easy to beat this   
time." Without further ado, Ryouga launched himself at Ranma, hands reaching for   
Ranma's throat. In the madness of the melee, both warriors failed to notice the pair of   
eyes watching them from the bushes. 'His cloths are just the same as Ranma's and his   
fighting techniques are strikingly similar to hers.' Ranma attacked with a sweep, taking   
Ryouga off his feet and leaving him open for the following uppercut. Shampoo   
grimaced, 'If that's the follow up attack to the sweep, I'm glad I jumped it.' Ryouga   
recover in the air and landed lightly, ready to defend himself. What he wasn't expecting   
was Ranma's diving kick from above, he had jumped with the uppercut, giving it some   
extra oomph and giving Ranma a bit of altitude. 'Wow, he is good' The hit was hard, and   
Ryouga was barely conscious after the powerful blow to the head. Stumbling to his feet,   
Ryouga yelled,  
  
"I'll get you yet Ranma!" Then he limped off. Shampoo's eyes widened, 'It all fits.'  
  
"Jusenkyo." She whispered the word, or more correctly, she spat it from her mouth like   
a vile poison. Shampoo grabbed her water jug and opened it.  
  
"Ranma!" She shouted as she stood. Ranma spun, barely recognizing the voice.  
  
"Shampoo?" He asked as the cold water splashed over him. Shampoo smirked as   
Ranma transformed into Ranma-chan.  
  
"Shampoo challenge Ranma to fight, for amazon honor!"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Amazon fight any outside woman that defeat her until she defeat them or she die."   
Ranma grimaced.  
  
"I don't want to hurt you."  
  
"Then you lose." Shampoo unsheathed a long sword from her back.  
  
"Shampoo, please, I don't want to hurt you!"  
  
"Shut up!" Shampoo screamed as she swung the razor sharp blade in an eviscerating   
ark. Ranma-chan dodged back, then kicked forward at the flat of the blade. But Shampoo   
was ready and she brought the sword back, then thrust forward, catching the shoulder   
of Ranma's shirt. With one quick swipe, she freed her blade and gave Ranma-chan a nasty   
gash across her shoulder.  
  
"Dammit Shampoo, I don't want to fight you, there's no reason for us to fight!" For an   
answer, Shampoo just slashed across again. Right in the middle of her dodge,   
Ranma-chan shouted, "Why the hell are you so angry at me?!" Shampoo paused for   
just a moment, then growled.  
  
"Shampoo liked Ranma, Ranma nicer to Shampoo then any other person Shampoo   
ever know, but now Shampoo find out that Ranma just man trying to get in Shampoo's   
pants!" Ranma-chan looked like he she had just been slapped,  
  
"Shampoo, it wasn't like that, I wasn't trying to have sex with, I'm not like that!" Even   
more malice filled Shampoo's eyes,  
  
"Shut up! Shampoo kill you!" Shampoo's arms blurred, and her sword moved almost   
faster then Ranma-chan could track, it came in so fast, she didn't even feel the cuts,   
until her attack was done and Shampoo jumped back. Then they started to bleed, twenty   
at least, all over Ranma-chan's body, but curiously, they were all very shallow.  
  
"Shampoo, if you do this, you're going to hate yourself afterwards." Ranma-chan   
gripped her shoulder tightly. Shampoo glared, and pulled her sword back for a more   
powerful blow.  
  
"You shut up, Shampoo hate you!" Ranma-chan noted that their was a little less anger   
and conviction in her voice, but his notice was short lived as she came in again, with a   
single power thrust. Ranma-chan barely tried to dodge, the combined blood loss from all   
of the wounds was making her feel light headed. The sword ripped through the silk shirt,   
now little more then tatters of blood-stained cloth, and cut across Ranma-chan's   
stomach. But instead of doing some kind of move to escape further damage, Ranma-chan  
simply fell forward, limply onto Shampoo. The sword would have cut her side completely   
open, but Shampoo moved it away, clasping her other arm around the small redhead to   
stop her from falling to the ground. "Ranma!" She screamed.  
  
This is my first fic and I know it's probably not too good, but if you can find the time, feed   
back would be nice. Send it to immortalwriter@sailormoon.com. 


	2. The Abduction to Nermina

Ranma ½: A New Beginning  
Episode 2: The Abduction to Nermina  
Notes: ' '= Someone is thinking. I refer to Ranma as Ranma-chan when he is in his   
female form and Genma as Genma-panda when he is transformed.  
  
'Cold. Very cold. Something very cold is washing over me!' Ranma awoke with a   
start, flinging his arms about to try and get the water off. But he stopped as his   
shoulder and side screamed out in pain.  
"Stay still." Whispered a voice behind him and he felt a pair of cool hands   
press him back down onto something soft.  
"Shampoo?" He asked, disbelieving his ears.  
"Yes." She moved in front of Ranma, her eyes downcast and her hands   
covered by a slimy white cream. "Stay still." She reiterated as she began massaging   
his shirtless, wounded side. At first, the wound seemed to inflame at her touch, but   
then it subsided into a cool pleasure. Shampoo pulled her hands away from his side   
and moved behind him.  
"Shampoo?" The hands paused,  
"Yes?"  
"What is that stuff?" The hands resumed massaging the cream into his   
shoulder.  
"Is ancient chinese healing salve, make wounds heal much faster." Shampoo   
remained silent as she finished Ranma's shoulder. "Stay still, if you move, it break   
seal." Ranma nodded slightly. Shampoo then moved in front of Ranma again, still not   
looking him in the eye.  
"So, why are we in this cave?" Ranma asked, looking about from the corners of   
his eyes.  
"After Ranma collapse, storm hit, strong storm, this nearest shelter." As she   
spoke, a small drop of liquid fell to the floor from under her bangs. Ranma watched   
curiously as the liquid mingled with the water in a puddle.  
"Why are you crying?" Shampoo shook ever so slightly, then finally looked up,   
tears welling up in her eyes.  
"Shampoo sorry! Ranma right, Shampoo no want kill Ranma!" If it was   
possible, Shampoo began to crying even more. Regardless of the pain, Ranma   
moved forward and hugged Shampoo to his chest.  
"It's okay Shampoo, I forgive you. I know what it's like to be angry and   
confused." Under Ranma's gentle whispering and reassurance, Shampoo eventually   
stopped crying. As she wiped her eyes on her sleeve, Ranma suggested, "How about   
I tell you my life story while you put some more creme on these." Ranma gestured to   
his reopened cuts. "And then you can tell me yours." Shampoo smiled happily,  
"Shampoo like." Ranma smiled back, then lay back.  
"Well, where to start . . ." Ranma thought for a moment. "When I was really little.   
I didn't have many friends, except for one kid named Ukyou, my best friend, in fact, my   
only friend. We played together all of the time, until I turned six and my dad made a   
stupid promise to my mother. He told her that he would take me on a training journey,   
and he would make me a man among men. But there was one problem." Ranma   
paused, and Shampoo nodded for him to continue. He sighed, "If he failed to make   
me a man among men, he and I would commit seppuku." Shampoo gasped.  
"How could he, you only six!" Ranma shrugged,  
"He already decided who I was going to marry before I was born, It wasn't that   
big of a step." Shampoo was speechless. They stayed silent for several moments,   
until Shampoo finally asked.  
"Will you honor them?"  
"I don't know. I'm hoping I won't have to deal with either of them anytime soon."   
There was another small moment of silence, then Shampoo said.  
"Please continue."  
"After that I spent ten years on the road, with my dad teaching me the martial   
arts. Not much really happened to me." Shampoo frowned, a cute expression since   
her face didn't seem accustomed to doing it.  
"Stop pulling leg, you good, something special happen." Ranma scratched the   
back of his head.  
"Well there was this one time pop thought I wasn't fast enough, so he tied me   
to a train." He laughed, "I sure ran fast, though my legs were a little sore afterwards!"   
Shampoo horrified look went unnoticed since Ranma had his eyes closed. 'He's   
laughing about his father tying him to a train, something is very wrong here.'   
"What about parents?" Ranma laughed even harder,  
"Well I don't remember too much about my mother, just that she was a kind   
woman with a big heart. Pop on the other hand is an arrogant basterd. he steals and   
makes pathetic attempts to justify it. He also wears a gi, bandanna, and geta   
everywhere. Have you ever been kicked by a geta? It hurts." Shampoo paused.  
"Shampoo think that good enough, for now, Shampoo tell." Ranma smiled   
and waited. Shampoo took a breath and started. "Shampoo born unto great warrior,   
strongest of all Amazon. Taught to fight without weapon when she six. When Shampoo   
mastered unarmed technique at eight, she move onto bow and arrow. Master fast,   
only nine when she go onto bonbori and other bashing weapons. Didn't like bonbori,   
but mastered them anyway in three years. At twelve, started learning sword, mastered   
last year." Ranma blinked several times.  
"Wow, that was quick and simple." He looked at Shampoo. "Isn't there anything   
else?" Shampoo hesitated, then whispered.  
"Mother no like Shampoo."  
"What!? How?!" Ranma asked.  
"Shampoo learn faster and better then mother, mother no like."  
"But shouldn't she have been happy that her student surpassed her?"  
"Mother no train, great grandmother train." Ranma blinked again,  
"Okayyyy." Shampoo looked Ranma over.  
"Ranma move now." She looked again. "Ranma heal fast." He stood and   
stretched his muscles.  
"Feels good to move again." He commented as he cracked his neck. He then   
turned to Shampoo, "Domo Arigato." Shampoo smiled.  
"Welcome." The pair then noticed that the storm had stopped, and the sun   
had dipped below the horizon. "We sleep now, talk more in morning." Ranma agreed   
and lay back down onto what he now knew was his bed roll.  
"Goodnight Shampoo."  
"Goodnight Ranma." 'Sleep well.' They both thought in there own respective   
languages.  
  
'Finally, it took me forever to find that damn boy!' Genma thought furiously as   
he looked down at the sleeping form of his son. He then noticed Shampoo.  
"Wow." Genma said aloud as he stared at the beautiful chinese girl. 'What a   
son,' He thought proudly as he reached for the small pouch fastened at his waist. "Just   
a little in the mouth, and nothing will wake them up for hours." He pulled out a pinch and   
put it on Shampoo's tongue, then gave Ranma some. But then Genma caught a   
glimpse of Shampoo's sword and thought for a moment. "Better safe then sorry." He   
whispered as he gave Shampoo and an extra dose. "Alright boy, c'mon, we've got a   
deal to honor." He said to himself as he slung the burlap sack his son was now   
sleeping in over his shoulder.  
  
"Turn out the lights Shampoo, I'm trying to sleep." Ranma pleaded as his   
eyelids were assaulted by a bright light that sent lances of pain through his brain.   
Then someone pulled one of his eyes open.  
"Well nuts Akane, I owe you a buck, he's not in a coma." Ranma looked   
around. There was pop, smiling happily about something. A man in a dark green gi   
with a smile just as wide as his father's. Then there were three girls, the first being a   
kindly looking one, wearing a dress with an apron over it and currently holding a   
feather duster. She had brown hair done up in a huge braid that was slung over her   
shoulder, and he face had rather large dimples, indicating an easy smile. The next   
one had blue-ish black hair, cut short besides two bangs on the side of her head, she   
wore a simple T-shirt and denim shorts outfit, and had a look in her eyes not unlike   
pure unchecked hatred. Last but not least was a girl with chestnut hair, cut in a weird   
way so that it would cover most of her head, but not her face. She wore a similar   
outfit to the last girl, but this ones seemed newer and better cared for. She wore a   
smile that reminded Ranma of a crocodile's smile, and a calculating look in her eyes   
that completed the frightening ensemble.  
"Where am I?" He asked as he squinted. For an answer, Ranma found himself   
hauled to his feet and being hugged by the other man, who was currently crying like   
there was no tomorrow.  
"Finally," He began through sobs. "Our dojo's will be joined!" Hearing those   
words made Ranma realize exactly where he was.  
"You're the Tendos?!" The girls nodded, their faces barely changing. 'Oh shit!   
How the hell did I get here?!' He then noticed that Genma's sleeping herb pouch   
looked a little lighter. 'Dammit! That basterd must have found me in the night and   
brought me here! Dammit! I didn't want to deal with this now, especially because   
of Shampoo.'  
"Now my boy," The man said as he clapped Ranma on the back. "We need   
to introduce ourselves. I'm Soun Tendo, master of this dojo and father to these three   
young ladies." He then began gesturing to the girls. "This is Kasumi, she's the   
oldest." He pointed to the kind looking girl. "That is Nabiki, she's about one year   
your senior." The calculating one. "And this is Akane, she's your age and the heir to   
our school's knowledge." The hateful one. Ranma looked about several times, at the   
smile, the frown, and the scowl. "So Ranma, which one will it be?" Soun asked   
anxiously. Ranma sighed, unclenched his muscles, wiped the sweat from his   
forehead, and spoke.  
"I'm sorry. But I can't choose to be engaged to any of you." Genma and Soun,   
who had both eagerly been awaiting Ranma's decision, face faulted. Genma was   
the first to get up.  
"What the hell do you think you're doing boy! You've got the perfect chance to   
be with any of these beautiful girls!" He whispered fiercely to his son. Ranma scowled,  
"Well excuse me for nitpicking, but I'm not going to marry a total stranger,   
especially if I don't love her!" He fired back. Suddenly, Ranma felt something latch   
onto his leg and start wetting it.  
"Please son!" Wailed the hysterical Tendo patron. "You have to do it, I've been   
waiting for this moment since before you were born!"  
"Get it off of me!" Ranma shouted, having realized that if Soun kept crying at   
the volume he was, he'd be Ranma-chan in mo time. Ranma danced about wildly,   
trying to fling the sobbing Tendo off of himself. But Soun's grip was like a steel bear   
trap, he just wouldn't come off. Ranma hopped about until his thrashing knocked a   
small bucket of water into the air. Both Ranma and Genma watched the bucket reach   
the top of it's ark, and begin to spill it's contents.  
"Oh no." They both whispered as the water flew out of the bucket. Next thing   
the Tendo family knew, they were slightly damp and looking at a busty redhead and   
a panda in a similar predicament. Akane was the first to speak,  
"Aieeeeeee!" She screamed. Ranma-chan held up her hands while   
Genma-panda wrote frantically on a sign that said,  
"It's us!" Soun was speechless for several moments.  
"How did this happen Genma?" Ranma-chan stepped forward.  
"I'll tell you, but first, can you get us some hot water?"  
"Sure." Kasumi said as she went into the kitchen.  
"Any ways, it all started in China . . ."  
  
"And that's how I ended up here." The now male Ranma finished. Although   
he conveniently left out the parts about Shampoo and his father's abduction of him,   
he wanted to speak to Genma privately about those.  
"Oh my . . ." Kasumi said simply.  
"What a story!" Genma said proudly.  
"What a tale!" Soun said proudly for an entirely different reason then Genma.   
Nabiki just smiled evilly with money in her eyes.  
"What a load of crap!" Yelled Akane. She stomped over to Ranma. "I bet you're   
not good enough to beat a normal girl, let alone me!" Ranma fairly burned with anger.  
"Let's see!" Ranma yelled back. For just a moment, you could see lightning   
flying between their locked eyes, then Akane stormed off.  
"Follow me."  
  
A minute later, the pair stood facing each other, Ranma in a borrowed gi and   
Akane in her own pure white gi. "Let's see how good you really are Saotome!" Akane   
screamed as she charged forward. Ranma smiled, and dodged the attack when it   
came, giving Ranma a free hit on Akane's unprotected back. She stumbled a bit,   
but regained her balance quickly and spun to face Ranma. But he wasn't there, he   
was coming at her from above. Akane barely managed to dodge, then countered   
with a swift punch. But still, Ranma wasn't there, this time he ducked below the punch   
and grabbed her arm as it passed over him. With one powerful heave, he threw her   
head over heels to land several feet away. When Akane's vision cleared, she saw   
Ranma standing above her, hand outstretched. Akane scowled and smacked his hand   
away. "Lucky shot." She grumbled as she regained her feet and went inside.  
"What's her deal?" Ranma asked no one in particular as he went inside as   
well. When he went down the hall, a sound reached his ears from the shadows.  
"Ranma." Genma stepped out of the shadows. Ranma smiled, "Just the thief   
I wanted to see, we've got to talk old man." Genma's face remained stoic.  
"I agree, follow me." Genma walked out into the garden. "Ranma." He said   
again as he stopped in the middle of the path. "You have to do this, the Saotome   
family honor is on the line." Ranma laughed bitterly.  
"It's on the line now? Give me a break, you've destroyed it a hundred times over.   
Stealing from people, pretending to engage your son to girls just so you can steal their   
doweries, abducting your own son in the middle of the night, forcing him to live a life of   
hardship almost completely deprived of his mother's love! The list just goes on and   
on!" Ranma's whisper quiet voice had risen to a shout. "Our honor's not on the line, it's   
gone. If Mom were here right now, she'd have you commit seppuku on the spot!"   
Genma frantically tried to silence his son, hoping that the Tendo family had not heard   
his foolish ranting. "And last but not least, you're forcing me to marry a girl I just met,   
when I'm in love with the girl you took me from!" Ranma's voice veritably echoed   
around all of Nermina, and as soon as Ranma realized what he had said, he clapped   
his hands over his mouth.  
  
"Ranma?" Shampoo whispered as her eyes fluttered open. 'I could have sworn   
I just heard Ranma say he loved me.' She looked about the cave. "(Where is   
Ranma?)" Shampoo whispered in Chinese. "Ranma! Where you be?" Shampoo   
shouted down the cave. But when no answer came, she started to think. 'He ditched   
me! I can't believe he ditched me! That . . .' But the flaring anger in her breast died   
when she noticed all of Ranma's things still sitting in his spot, and the small prints in   
the muddy cave floor, geta prints.  
  
Author's Notes: Oooh! Do I smell a lead in? Anyways, as always C&C is appriciated,  
send it to immortalwriter@sailormoon.com. (Sorry about the change, but I found out  
after I sent the first fic to the fine sites that are displaying it that the password to my   
hotmail account didn't work, so then I made another and it didn't work. After that I just  
said "screw it" and got one at sailormoon.com. You might want to get one there too, the  
accounts are free, they have 200 megs of space and no unwanted spam!) 


	3. Shampoo's Return

Ranma ½: A New Beginning  
  
Episode 3: Shampoo's Return  
  
Notes: ( )= Someone is speaking in Chinese, ' '= Someone is thinking. I refer to Ranma as  
  
Ranma-chan when he is in his female form, Genma as Genma-panda when he is transformed, and Shampoo as Shampoo-neko when she is transformed.  
  
"Already in love?" Genma asked curiously. Ranma remained silent, still disbelieving his own  
  
words. Genma cleared his throat. "Ranma, you have to learn to set aside petty things like that, honor  
  
always comes first." Ranma seethed.  
  
"Petty!" His voice cracked. "Love isn't petty!" He veritably screamed.  
  
"In this case, it is." That was the last straw.  
  
"I can't believe you! I'm out of here!" Ranma coiled his legs and leapt out into the night. The  
  
Tendo family came running out.  
  
"What's going on Genma? We heard shouting." Soun asked.  
  
"It's okay Soun, Ranma's just having problems adjusting." He narrowed his eyes on the roof top Ranma had jumped to. "He'll be back."  
  
"What is he thinking?!" Ranma shouted aloud as he hopped across the roof tops. 'Honor comes before love my ass! That's coming from the ultimate thief and trickster.' Ranma stopped when he felt something grab his pig tail. "Who are you?" He asked quietly. The person behind him didn't answer, just let go and jumped back. Ranma turned slowly to face his newfound opponent. It was a girl, that was for sure, her lithe figure was easily distinguishable in the tight black suit, and her long hair glistened in the moonlight. But not much else was visible, only her hands and eyes were uncovered. Sticking up from behind her left shoulder was some sort of large weapon, probably a sword. "What does a ninja want with me?" The girl still didn't speak, just slid into a combat stance, her hand beckoning. Ranma smiled. "Fine then, I'll start." He charged forward, throwing all the speed he could muster into it. There was a quick flash of reflected moon light, and then the ninja was standing on the other side of Ranma, a giant spatula in hand. Ranma stood, shaking, with his eyes unfocused for a moment. Then he fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. The ninja walked over to him, and held her weapon aloft for the killing blow. But then, she stumbled back, clutching her stomach tightly, Ranma's fist in the space she previously occupied. "That was a pretty good hit," He whispered as he regained his feet, "But I never go down that easily." He declared with a triumphant smirk. But his face fell when he noticed the ninja's weapon, a giant spatula. "Ukyou?!" He whispered. The ninja straightened herself, then reached up and removed her mask, revealing the face of Ranma's childhood friend.  
  
"Yes Ranma, it's me."  
  
"B-b-but why?!" Ranma stammered. A look of anger crossed her face.  
  
"You pretended you were going to marry me, and then you stole my dowery!" Ranma paused, remembering back to his short visit with Ukyou only a few months ago.  
  
"Ukyou, in case you hadn't noticed, I didn't move a muscle or say a word after I saw you in a dress, if you'll recall, Pop had to drag me over to the table." For just a moment, recognition left Ukyou's face, but then it returned with reinforcements.  
  
"You're lying!" She attacked, quick as greased lightning, slicing her combat spatula into the  
  
ground. Ground because Ranma had rolled to the side before the attack hit.  
  
"Why exactly are you trying to kill me?" Ranma stopped as he dodged another swipe, "I can give it back to you, he never got around to pawning it." He then ducked an even more viscous slash.  
  
"I don't care about the dowery!" She screamed. "You broke my heart," She paused, her white  
  
knuckled grip on the spatula handle loosening as tears welled up in her eyes. "I thought you loved me!" The last was a strangled cry as Ukyou leapt away across the rooftops.  
  
"Damn," Ranma whispered, "My life is really getting complicated." He sighed, and went back to the dojo.  
  
"I knew you'd be back." Genma said from the bed in the guest room, now the Saotome  
  
bedroom. Ranma growled.  
  
"I'm not here for you, old man. I came back because I've got no other place to go." Genma  
  
laughed evilly.  
  
"Of course Ranma, of course." Ranma's anger flared, and he launched himself across the room, pinning Genma against the wall.  
  
"Listen Genma!" Ranma whispered fiercely as he lifted Genma further up the wall. "If you don't stop playing the part of the evil bastard who ruins my life, I will kill you!" The last few words were spoken with such fiery conviction, that Genma did not think for one second that his enraged son wouldn't follow through on that threat. Ranma didn't give Genma a chance to say anything, just dropped him and walked over to the futon beds. "Guess what pop! You get to rough it for another night, because you're not sleeping on a bed tonight!" Ranma's voice was cheery, but Genma could sense the underlying steel in it, and understood that his son wasn't kidding. He whimpered, then dropped to the floor and curled up. Ranma, satisfied that he had revenged his indignities, went to sleep himself.  
  
Ranma awoke slowly to the shouting and pounding at his door.  
  
"C'mon you two! Wake up!" Screeched a barely recognizable as female voice.  
  
"Alright! Alright!" He yelled to stop the incessant noise. "We're awake, you can go away now!"  
  
But the pounding and yelling continued unabated.  
  
"Oh no! If I go away, you'll just go back to sleep!" Ranma stomped over to the door and flung it open.  
  
"Alright!" He growled. "I'm up, what's so important that you had to so rudely awaken me?" Akane smiled dryly,  
  
"Breakfast." The instant the words had left her lips, both Ranma and Genma were racing down the stairs.  
  
Meanwhile, at the breakfast table, Soun sat, patently awaiting the arrival of his friend and future son-in-law. He blinked, and when his eyes opened, the pair were at the table, half the food already gone. He blinked a few more times, then said.  
  
"I see your speed and appetite have improved since I last saw you, Genma old friend." The only answer he received was a muffled "Uh huh." as Genma shoveled a bowl full of rice down his throat. Soun turned to Ranma, who was probably eating even more voraciously then Genma, "So my boy, which one do you want to be engaged to?" Ranma sighed, put down the miso soup he had been drinking, and said.  
  
"Didn't you hear me yesterday, I can't be eng . . ." Ranma stopped midsentance as the walls shook violently. Genma stopped eating. "What was that?" Just then, the section of the walling behind the group blew in. Stepping through the rubble was Shampoo. Her face was frozen in a mask of vengeful rage, though it fell away when she noticed Ranma sitting at the breakfast table.  
  
"Nihao Ranma!" She yelled musically as she tackled Ranma and gave him a bear hug that rivaled that of an actual bear.  
  
"Shampoo!" Ranma yelled back, his joy obvious as he gave the enthusiastic Amazon a hug. But then her earlier expression returned, and Shampoo asked quietly.  
  
"Which one father?" Without thinking, Ranma pointed at Genma. Shampoo stood, her long sword flashing from it's scabbard. "Genma Saotome, you very bad man." She pointed her sword at him, holding it inches from his nose. "You make stupid promises for Ranma, you lie, you cheat, you steal, and you abuse son." He visibly swallowed, looking down the bridge of his nose at the three feet of steel. "Not only that, but you kidnap him in the middle of the night and drug Shampoo! For actions, you will be punished." Genma began to sweat, and yelped when Shampoo's sword flashed up, then back down to . . . Stop an inch from his skull, Ranma's strong hands held it in place.  
  
"Shampoo." Ranma whispered. "I know he's a bad man, but, he is my father and he hasn't done enough to warrant death by another's hands." He glanced at Genma, "At least, not yet." The man, visibly shaken by his brush with death, stumbled away from the breakfast table. Shampoo and Ranma both smiled, happy to have put a little fear in the pompous Genma. Ranma then turned to Shampoo, "So Shampoo, what have you been doing since pop kidnaped me?"  
  
"Looking for you, Shampoo worried 'bout Ranma." Shampoo laughed and Ranma laughed right along with her.  
  
"I didn't know you cared Shampoo." Before Shampoo could say something back, Ranma was gone, being dragged away by a screeching Akane.  
  
"C'mon Ranma, we've got to get to school or we're going to be late!" She screamed as Ranma tried to free himself from her iron clad grip. Shampoo blinked a few times, then jumped up and gave chase.  
  
"Wait for Shampoo!"  
  
Shortly thereafter they were at the front gates to Furinkan high, Akane vigorously arguing with  
  
Shampoo.  
  
"Shampoo! You can't just come to school with us, you have to get registered, otherwise they won't let you into class!"  
  
"Shampoo come to school whether loud girl Akane like it or not!" The two "humphed" and turned their backs on each other, miraculously managing not to run into anything as they continued to walk in that position. Ranma- chan sighed, feeling distressed by both the feud between Akane and Shampoo, as well as Ukyou's sudden and violent appearance. Plus, she was a little angry about the woman who was watering the sidewalk and not her flowers, and the fact that she couldn't find any hot water. Then, a voice rang out, catching the group's attention.  
  
"Akane Tendo, we would date you!" Then a huge group of male students charged out from the school. Akane scowled and yelled to Ranma and Shampoo.  
  
"You stay out of this!" She ran headlong into the group, smashing faces and other things left and right. Ranma watched with wide eyes. 'Wow! Her fighting style is pretty good against groups, though she'll be in trouble if one of them get's behind her . . .' As if summoned by Ranma- chan's thoughts, a Kendoist snuck up behind Akane and prepared to end the melee with a blow to her neck. But before the blow could land, Ranma was there, ready to block it. The bokken shattered on Ranma's wrist, creating a large cracking sound. Everyone froze, looking at the girl. Ranma cursed and shook her wrist.  
  
"What are you trying to do?! Kill her?!" She shouted at the Kendoist, though he wasn't paying  
  
attention to Ranma, he was staring at the splintered edge of his bokken. He stood quickly from his prone position, knocking Ranma over.  
  
"You!" He hissed, pointing a single finger at Ranma-chan. "You have broken my prize bokken,  
  
the very bokken which won me so many matches and has been with me through my entire meteoric rise to the position of the," He paused for a moment to strike a dramatic pose. "Blue Thunder of Furinkan High! I brought it here today in hopes that it would win me the heart and hand of Akane Tendo." The gleam in his eyes at that moment made one think that he would break into song at any moment. "But you had to some and break it!" He said, his mood changing drastically. "So I challenge you to ritual combat, we will meet here after school and settle this." With that said, the kendoist turned on his heel and left, as he was walking away from Furinkan High, Ranma-chan couldn't stop herself from shouting.  
  
"You do realize that school's about to start?!" The kendoist paused, turned again, and strode  
  
briskly through the front door to the school. As the rest of the students filed in after him, Ranma moved over to Akane. "Who was that idiot?" Instead of giving her an answer, Akane glared at Ranma-chan and went into the school. Ranma-chan looked at Shampoo, who shrugged and went in as well. Ranma-chan felt a hand on her shoulder,  
  
"You made her angry." She looked back to see Nabiki standing behind her. "She hates it when people help her, it makes her feel weak. As for your other question, he's Tatewaki Kuno, the "Blue Thunder" of Furinkan High, the best kendoist in the school. He's an idiot, a womanizer, and a pervert of he highest order, he buys pictures of Akane from me weekly." Ranma scowled,  
  
"What a nasty little man."  
  
"Agreed. Anyway, good luck for your match after school." She said as she ran into the school. Then the bell rang.  
  
"Oh crap." Ranma-chan said as she looked around desperately for some hot water.  
  
"Well students, welcome back. Did you all have fun?" The teacher looked about at her students, who all nodded vigorously. "Good. Now, we have two new students joining us today," She gestured in the direction of Shampoo and a very wet and tired looking Ranma. "Shampoo and Ranma Saotome."  
  
"Hello." They both said, though there were drastically varying levels of energy in their voices.  
  
The teacher gestured for Ranma and Shampoo to sit.  
  
"Now, let's begin where we left off yesterday . . ." Ranma choose to phase the teacher out at that moment. 'So, what am I going to do about Ukyou? She's a girl and she's in love with me. Kuno's going to be a major annoyance, and then of course, there's the engagement. Thank god none of them want to be engaged either, that'll give me a chance to squirm out of it. Now, let's see, which problem should I deal with first?' Ranma's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a splitting pain in his head.  
  
"Owww!" He yelled aloud as he rubbed the quickly rising bump on his head. The teacher looked down on him with fury.  
  
"Young man! You should pay more attention during class!" Ranma bowed his head.  
  
"Gomen nasai sensi, I was just thinking about how to deal with some complications in my life." The teacher nodded,  
  
"Fair enough, just please try to pay more attention next time." 'Have to figure this stuff out later . . .' He thought as the teacher continued.  
  
After school, Ranma-chan waded through the crowd of people, all eagerly awaiting Kuno's battle with the upstart girl. She moved quickly, anxious to get the fight over with so she could go home and be a he again. Kuno was at the center of the crowd, leisurely leaning up against a tree with a new bokken at his side. Nabiki was busy taking bets by the sidelines, she knew who was really going to win and was planning on making a lot of money off of it. Once Ranma-chan finally made it through the throng of people, Kuno straightened up and took a breath.  
  
"Now I shall punish you for your deeds against me." He whispered to Ranma-chan before he spun about to face Akane. "I dedicate my performance in this battle to Akane Tendo!" He yelled with a flourish, then blew a kiss in Akane's direction, which she ducked. A referee in training stepped forward,  
  
"Let the match," He looked at both of the combatants, then dropped his hand. "Begin!" He yelled as he stepped back. Kuno ran at Ranma, bokken held one-handed, horizontally before him. Ranma-chan held her ground, ready to block. Kuno reached her, and struck, fast as a viper, slashing across Ranma three times. But Ranma-chan vanished before the assault, not seeming to move at all. Kuno looked about wildly, wondering what had happened to his cowardly opponent. He then felt a light tap on his shoulder and turned to face the offender. He was rewarded with a split second view of Ranma- chan's triumphant smile before he felt the kick to his stomach, and the powerful uppercut that sent him flying several feet into the boughs of a tree, which he fell from shortly thereafter. Ranma moved to his side, wondering if she'd killed the idiot. But, as soon as she came within a foot of him, he leapt and grabbed her hands.  
  
"You have beaten me, but in beating me, you have stolen my heart with your immense skill and therefore, I would allow you to date me!" Ranma-chan looked down at the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High with a look of absolute disgust, some of it coming from the fact that she wasn't gay, and the other half coming from his idiocy.  
  
"No!" She screamed as she smacked Kuno into the stratosphere. A few of the onlookers whistled, but most just grumbled as they payed out to Nabiki. Shampoo cheered enthusiastically as Ranma walked toward Akane and herself. "Let's get out of here, I need to get out of this body." Shampoo Akane followed, not noticing the rampant speculation that was running through the student body about this "Pig-tailed girl".  
  
The group of young students arrived home slightly late, with a wet Ranma-chan in tow. "People aren't supposed to throw water out the window, they put it down the sink!" She ranted to everyone, who only nodded their heads in assent. But Ranma stopped when she felt something grab her. She looked over to see her father standing behind the door.  
  
"So Ranma? Is the engagement a sure thing?" Genma asked excitedly. Ranma glared at him.  
  
"I'm not going to be engaged to someone I don't love pop! Honor or not, I'm not marrying any of them!" Genma's face gained a sinister set.  
  
"Oh, you will." He whispered as he left, "You will." Ranma-chan turned to the group of girls,  
  
"I'm going to take a hot bath." She announced as she headed for the stairs. Akane glared, having just been about to say the same thing.  
  
"Don't use all of the hot water, I'm going to take one too!" She yelled to Ranma-chan as she moved quickly up the stairs. Akane then stomped off to another part of the house, followed closely by Nabiki, leaving Shampoo alone by the door. Shampoo thought for a moment. 'I have to talk to Ranma, I'll wait for him in his room.' She ran quickly, quite anxious to speak to Ranma.  
  
Having finished his hot bath, Ranma left the bathroom wearing no more then a towel. He went across the hall quickly, not wanting to drip on the floor. He entered his room, closed the door, dropped his towel and ran for the drawers. But he came to a screeching halt when he noticed the wide eyed Shampoo. 'Wow.' Was all she could think as Ranma blushed bright red and tried to cover himself. It suddenly occurred to Shampoo that she shouldn't be staring at Ranma, and she covered her eyes, getting up and stumbling toward Ranma's discarded towel. In her stumbling, Shampoo managed to get her foot stuck in a bucket of water next to the door.  
  
"Aieee!" She screamed as she slipped and kicked the bucket into the air, spilling it's contents. Ranma closed his eyes, expecting the water to hit him, but when he didn't feel a drop, he opened his eyes. His last coherent thought was that he shouldn't have. In a pile of Shampoo's clothing sat a small, pink cat, fluffy and cute to the extreme. Ranma, quite literally, jumped onto the ceiling, his fingers breaking past it and latching onto a support beam.  
  
"C-c-c-c-cat!" He screamed, his pupils dilating and a cold sweat breaking out across his body. The cat, Shampoo in her cursed form, looked at Ranma curiously, wondering what was the matter.  
  
"Mew?" She questioned innocently enough. But the sound only shook Ranma further, his breathing came out hard and fast, and his fingers were actually digging into the wooden beam.  
  
"N-n-no! Stay . . ." He paused, mid-sentence, his eyes losing focus. he let go of the beam, falling to the floor with a loud crash. Shampoo-neko moved closer, not having the faintest clue what was going on. Ranma moved to his hands and feet, crawling about the floor like a cat himself.  
  
"Merowr." This time, it didn't come from Shampoo, the sound came from Ranma himself. He sniffed about the room, seeming to be looking for something. he paused, sniffed the air again, then turned to Shampoo-neko, a totally feline emotion shining in his eyes.  
  
"Mew?" Shampoo took a step back from Ranma. 'What's going on here?' She thought frantically as Ranma stalked closer, his suddenly feline eyes following her every move. Shampoo-neko bumped into a wall and cringed, not knowing what this strange Ranma was going to do. He bunched his leg muscles and jumped at Shampoo-neko, screeching like a demon.  
  
Author's Notes: So, what did you think of my first big-time suspense ending? C & C is appreciated.  
  
immortalwriter@sailormoon.com and wait for the surprising conclusion in my next episode,  
  
"Ukyou, the Lovely Ninja"! 


	4. Ukyou, the Lovely Ninja

Ranma ½: A New Beginning  
  
Episode 4: Ukyou, the Lovely Ninja  
  
Notes: Just to clarify a bit, I usually only make a full paragraph when I'm changing scene or time, so it helps to keep that in mind when reading this. I refer to Ranma as Ranma-chan when transformed, Genma as Genma-panda, Shampoo as Shampoo-neko. Also ( ) = Chinese, ' ' = Means someone is thinking.  
  
Suddenly, the door to Ranma's room burst open, heralding the entry of Genma Saotome, a bucket of cold water in his hands.  
  
"Ranma!" He shouted as he threw the water, dousing Ranma and activating the curse. Ranma-chan looked about the room, a dazed confusion evident in her sapphire blue eyes. Before she could notice Shampoo-neko, Genma grabbed the cursed cat and ran out of the room. "Get out of here you filthy cat!" Genma said as he flung her out a nearby window. Shampoo-neko, relying on the superior reflexes her cursed form afforded her, grabbed onto the edge of the dojo roof, desperately trying to stop her flight. Her claws scratched across the terra-cotta tiles until one of them found a niche, and she came to an abrupt halt. Hanging just over the edge of the low roof, Shampoo-neko retracted her claw, and dropped silently to the patio below. 'What is going on?' She wondered as she walked gingerly into the house, favoring her other paw. She managed to find a cup of hot water on the table, a yet to be used tea bag next to it. She knocked it over onto herself and changed back. Now back in human form, though still naked, she ran quickly up the stairs, hoping to get her cloths before someone saw her. But, as she reached Ranma's mostly closed door, she heard whispering coming from within.  
  
"How could you let yourself be afraid like that?" Shampoo looked through the crack to see Ranma-chan cowering on the floor, her eyes shut tightly in fear. "A true martial artist never feels fear!"She whispered constantly as she rocked back and forth. Shampoo decided to ignore the situation, at least until she got her cloths back. But she paused, her hand already reaching past the door frame at her abandoned shirt, as she heard a sniffle, then several full-blown sobs. 'He's crying!' Forgoing her quest for clothing, Shampoo moved in, sitting down by Ranma-chan on the floor. She jumped, quickly wiping her eyes and turning to face Shampoo. "Yes?" She asked, a forced looking smile on her face. But Shampoo saw the moisture gathering in the corner of Ranma's eyes.  
  
"What wrong Ranma, why you act like cat and be so scared?" Ranma-chan remained silent for several moments, unable to bear the idea of losing her composure in front of someone else. "Ranma can tell Shampoo what wrong." She whispered as she snuggled a little closer to the red head. Ranma-chan sighed.  
  
"Alright, that was the aftershock of the Neko-ken technique." Shampoo frowned,  
  
"Neko-ken?"  
  
"It's a technique where a person loses themselves and basically become a cat, with enhanced reflexes and greater strength, it only activates for me when I'm very afraid, and after it, I'm just a little bit disturbed." Realization dawned on Shampoo.  
  
"That what happen!" Ranma-chan nodded. "So, why Ranma afraid of cats?" Ranma-chan shuddered.  
  
"Well, Pop taught me the Neko-ken by wrapping me in bacon and other assorted food stuffs, then throwing me in a pit filled with hungry cats." Shampoo shuddered as well.  
  
"That horrible!" Ranma-chan laughed bitterly,  
  
"That's not the worst of it, I didn't learn the technique the first time through, so he threw me in again after he got some more food."  
  
"How you live with evil man!" Shampoo yelled, completely disgusted by the actions of the Saotome patron.  
  
"He is my dad." Ranma-chan said simply. Shampoo reached down and grasped Ranma-chan's hands between her own,  
  
"Being Pop not good reason for hurting child." Ranma-chan blushed and looked down at her lap, which was when she realized that both of them were still naked.  
  
"Aw, shit!" She leapt up, and ran behind a chair.  
  
Shampoo looked down at herself as well.  
  
"(Shit!)" She quickly covered herself with the sheet from Ranma- chan's futon. From behind the chair, Ranma-chan quickly began to apologize.  
  
"I'm sorry Shampoo! I didn't realize . . ." Shampoo cut her off.  
  
"It okay Ranma, Shampoo no realize either." She stood, wrapping the sheet around herself and went over to get her clothing. Ranma-chan turned away quickly, blushing furiously as Shampoo dressed herself. After several moments of rustling clothing, Shampoo said. "Ranma's turn now." Ranma looked to see Shampoo with her back turned. Ranma-chan quickly dressed.  
  
"Okay Shampoo, I'm decent." Shampoo turned back around, looking at the sopping wet Ranma-chan.  
  
"Ranma need to dry off and get hot water." She commented. Ranma-chan agreed and they both went downstairs. Right as they took the last step, the lights went off.  
  
"What the . . ." Ranma-chan whispered. Then a swish came, followed by a dull thud and a grunt of effort. The lights turned back on, revealing Ranma-chan on one knee, blocking a blow from Ukyou's giant spatula. Shampoo stared over at Ranma-chan, her muscles corded as she tried to force the ninja girl back.  
  
"You will pay Ranma!" Ukyou said through gritted teeth as she pushed against Ranma-chan's block. But she retracted her weapon when she noticed that she was attacking a red-haired girl with a startling resemblance to Ranma. She stepped back and bowed deeply. "Gomen nasai young lady, I thought I was attacking someone else." Ranma-chan bristled.  
  
"I'm not a girl." Ukyou started, noticing something familiar in the denial.  
  
"Ranma?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer.  
  
"Yeah, it's me." Ranma-chan answered, her head hung dejectedly. Ranma- chan heard a swish of loose cloth, and looked up at Ukyou, now a few feet away with her combat spatula held before her.  
  
"I don't care what you are, you will pay!" Ranma-chan threw up her arms in a combat stance.  
  
"I'm going to fight you if you insist on attacking me." She said simply as Shampoo stepped away. Ukyou smiled, then flashed into movement, zipping with almost preternatural speed. Before Ranma-chan could even try to attack, Ukyou was upon her, bashing and slashing in her full, furious glory. Ranma found it impossible to block all of the attacks, feeling several painful hits explode throughout her body. Ukyou jumped back, breathing a little hard and smiling at the cut she had inflicted on Ranma's cheek. Ranma's ire rose at the smile, and he charged Ukyou. She expected the attack, and jumped back, then lunged forward, hoping to impale him. But rather then trying to dodge to the side, he ducked under it to uppercut Ukyou. As she came up for the blow, Ukyou made it even easier for her by swinging her spatula in a horizontal ark, the kind of blow she'd use to hit him if he'd dodged to the side. Ranma's blow hit hard, knocking Ukyou's head back with a sharp "crack", and she flew through the air, landing several feet away. Ranma moved over to Ukyou's dazed form, "Dammit Ukyou! If you'll just give me the chance to explain . . ." Ukyou snarled up at Ranma.  
  
"You had your chance to explain Ranma, now you die!" Ukyou swung her giant spatula, one handed, aiming for a neck blow, and the sheer ferocity and unexpectedness of the attack left Ranma defenseless. Ranma-chan shut her eyes, not wanting to see the end coming, but rather then feeling Ukyou's spatula take off her head, she heard the clang of a metal weapon blocking another weapon. She opened her eyes to see Shampoo's fine chinese sword holding Ukyou's spatula in a lock, her toned Amazon muscles straining to hold back the ninja's attack. Ukyou locked eyes with the smiling Shampoo.  
  
"No one kill Ranma while Shampoo around." Ukyou grimaced.  
  
"I have no business with you, stay out of this." She whispered unconvincingly. Shampoo's smile widened, and in one masterful move, she whipped her sword out of the lock, and slashed it across Ukyou's cheek.  
  
"Eye for eye." She whispered, then pushed Ukyou back. The ninja girl stumbled back, only stopping when she bumped into a wall. She reached up and placed two fingers on the cut, wincing.  
  
"You'll pay for this Ranma!" She whispered fiercely, then leapt through an open window.  
  
"Crud." Ranma-chan said. "I can't beat her, she's just too fast, and that uppercut barely fazed her." Shampoo looked back at the kneeling Ranma. She crouched down beside her, wrapping her in a reassuring hug.  
  
"Shampoo know Ranma can beat ninja girl." Ranma smiled.  
  
"Thank you Shampoo." She stood up. "I will find a way to beat Ukyou!"  
  
The next day at school, Ranma sat in class, unaware of much of what was happening around him. That is, until he heard the name "Ukyou." Mentally at def. con 3, he returned his attention to the class around him.  
  
"This is our new student, Ukyou Kuonji. Please endeavor to treat her with consideration and respect." She pointed Ukyou to her sear, unfortunately next to Ranma's. She sat down without a fuss, her eyes closed, a look of calm on her face. 'Maybe she forgave me!' Ranma thought happily, but then Ukyou's eyes snapped open and she threw a menacing glare in Ranma's direction. 'Maybe not.' He thought unhappily as he sank away from her glance. 'This is going to be really long day.' He mentally wailed as the teacher continued.  
  
Ranma was already out of the class room when the bell rang, 'I really don't need another fight with Ukyou, especially since I still can't beat her!' He thought frantically as he ran down the halls. Then, of course, he ran into something with at least the I.Q. of a brick wall. Ranma fell to the ground, groaning as he realized that he had run into Kuno.  
  
"Ranma Saotome." Kuno began with a sneer. "I feel not joy at the sight of your evil face. For as I learned this morning, you imprison the pig tailed girl and Akane Tendo in your home, using them for your own sick pleasures, and taking pictures of them to sell!" Ranma irked. 'Where does this guy come up with this stuff? And what does he mean pictures?!" Ranma was violently taken from his thoughts by the realization that Kuno was about to hit him with his bokken. Ducking the slash, Ranma reached up and grabbed Kuno's bicep, using it as leverage to pull his elbow up and smash it into the annoying sempai's face. Kuno stumbled back, a bit of blood dribbling out of his smashed nose. "You have a powerful punch Saotome, but my bokken of justice will defeat you!" But when Kuno opened his eyes, having finished his heroic a poetic outburst, he only saw the sole of Ranma's shoes, which then connected with his face and sent him flying down the halls.  
  
"Sorry Kuno, but I don't have time for that, see you later!" Ranma shouted to the unconscious young man as he continued his mad dash down the halls of Furinkan high. Though he was rather angered when all o his martial arts training didn't allow him to avoid the pail of water the janitor had carelessly left out in the middle of the hall. But when she finally reached the back door to the school, Ukyou was already waiting for her, arms crossed across her chest. Behind her stood most of the school, waiting impatiently for the show to begin. In particular, Ranma's new friends Hiroshi and Daisuke were standing in the front of the line, popcorn bags in hand.  
  
"Ranma Saotome." Ukyou began, her rising ire evident in her voice. "I challenge you to ritual combat, for my honor. It will be at this place, tomorrow." She uncrossed her arms and moved closer to the grimacing martial artist. "It will be a fight to the death!" She whispered fiercely, then spun and left the premises of the high school.  
  
"What the heck am I gonna do?" Ranma-chan asked as she drifted in the direction of Shampoo and Akane.  
  
"Ever the popular boy, or is it girl now, eh Ranma?" Akane commented before she turned and left as well. Shampoo glared at the tactless girl as she left, then turned to Ranma.  
  
"Ignore angry girl Akane Ranma, it be okay, you smart and strong, you figure out how to beat ninja girl Ukyou." Ranma-chan focused on Shampoo's concerned face.  
  
"Even if I do figure out how to beat her, she's dead set on either killing me or dying herself." She hung her head, seriously worried about the outcome of this problem. But he found Shampoo with him the whole way, she grabbed his arm and put it across her shoulder.  
  
"I was going to kill Ranma, and you still convinced me that it not what I really wanted, Shampoo think Ranma can do that for ninja girl Ukyou too." Ranma-chan looked over at Shampoo, and noticed how her lavender eyes seemed to glimmer.  
  
"Thanks Shampoo, you always know how to cheer me up." Shampoo smiled.  
  
"Shampoo try." Ranma-chan turned to look in the direction of Ukyou's exit.  
  
"I won't let you die, my old friend."  
  
Darkness had fallen upon Nermina, and most of the inhabitants were sleeping peacefully in their comfy bed. Except one.  
  
"Aiiee-ya!" The karate yell tore through the otherwise silent night in the dojo, drawing attention to the shadowed figure, moving like a panther among sheep, swiftly and silently. But for him, it was not fast enough, he was to face someone with the preternatural speed that only lightning possessed. 'How can I possibly do it, not only is she faster then me, but she's also got her combat spatula, that gives her an extra four feet or so of reach.' He continued through several kata, all the while analyzing his past two battles with Ukyou. Ranma kicked forward, but stopped when he noticed a darkened form. The form, Shampoo, blinked as she stared at the sole of Ranma's foot, not more then a few centimeters from her face. "Shampoo!? What are you doing up this late?" He lowered his foot, placing it back down on the floor softly.  
  
"Shampoo worried bout Ranma, came down to make sure Ranma okay." She explained quickly. Ranma smiled, happy that Shampoo was worried for him, although happiness quickly lost out to hopelessness as reality set back in again,  
  
"How am I gonna do it Shampoo, how am I going to fight Ukyou when she's that fast?" Shampoo said nothing, just placed her head on Ranma's shoulder.  
  
"Shampoo no know, but Shampoo know Ranma can beat her." Ranma took comfort from Shampoo's confidence in him. Then it hit him. He thought back to when he had fought Ukyou, how when she thrust forward at him, rather then dodge, he went under it. She saw him, she knew he was there, but she couldn't hit him.  
  
"She's a prisoner of her own speed!" He whispered as the realization truly dawned on him. "She moves so fast that she can't vary her moves in the middle of one!" Shampoo clapped happily as Ranma discovered how to win the fight. But Ranma's mood fell. "But still, her spatula gives her too much reach, how can I get enough hits on her to win?" Ranma wondered aloud as he slumped up against the wall and slid back down to the floor, now it was Shampoo's turn for a revelation.  
  
"If she have reach, then we give Ranma reach too." She said as she stood and reached over to the wall of the dojo, which just happened to be lined with weapons.  
  
"But Shampoo! I don't know how to use any weapons, and Ukyou's been training with hers for most of her life!" Shampoo smiled like a Cheshire cat,  
  
"Shampoo teach you, and in return, you teach Shampoo to fight better with no weapon." Ranma smiled at the clever Amazon.  
  
"Alright Shampoo, I can do that, hell, I'll even throw in a free lesson on how to speak Japanese." He said as he reached over to the wall. Shampoo, still smiling, whispered,  
  
"Now fun begin."  
  
'Rain, it had to rain today.' Ranma-chan thought sullenly as she stared across the school yard at Ukyou, her expression set, and her hands wrapped tightly around the haft of a long staff. Ukyou on the other hand, had an expression of anger on her face, and her hands shook from the sheer force of her grip. Gathered around them were most of the students from Furinkan high, including Kuno, who was at the moment babbling on about how the two girls had no reason to fight over him, since he would date them both. Nabiki, as always, was on the side lines taking bets. Finally, one of the male students came forward wearing a referee's uniform. Wordlessly, he put his hand between the two fighters, and he felt as if he could feel a palpable line of tension between them. Then he brought it down, severing the line. The sound of rain splashing on the ground was the only thing that could be heard, a deathly silence had fallen across the crowd as the two combatants charged each other.  
  
They met halfway, Ukyou going for her quick draw slash, but Ranma blocked it with the high end of the staff. Ukyou pushed against her with all of her strength, and it looked like she might break the lock, until Ranma-chan dropped her higher up hand to the middle of the staff, then used the leverage created by Ukyou's assault to sweep the lower end across and take the Ninja's feet out from under her. She fell, face first into the hard concrete. Ranma-chan leapt away from the fallen ninja girl, wary of the possible counter attack. Ukyou got up slowly, her face red from its rough contact with the ground. She regained her feet, her pained face twisted in anger. She charged Ranma-chan, the gigantic cooking utensil turned weapon raised above her head. Ranma held her ground in the face of the charge, until the last moment. She jumped, springing into the air and flipping over Ukyou's lightning swing. She landed, extended the staff, and spun, crushing it into Ukyou's side. Amazingly, she was unfazed by the blow, she shook it off, and did and abrupt about face, brining her combat spatula with her.  
  
Ranma-chan barely blocked the attack in her surprised state, and was quickly pushed back as Ukyou went into a flurry of slashes, cuts and thrusts. The intensity of the assault was incredible, Ukyou's spatula blurred from the speed of her attacks, and Ranma was barely blocking all of them. Then her defense broke. She tripped on a rock that had been partially cover by the slightly overgrown lawn, and lost her footing. Ukyou smiled in triumph and swung with all her might. The spatula impacted Ranma-chan's side with a bone breaking crunch, shattering two of her ribs. She flew through the air, and landed several feet away from Ukyou, rolling through the soaking grass until her momentum ran out. The crowd gasped, even to the most unobservant, it was obvious that hit had been a battle ending blow. Ukyou moved over to Ranma's unconscious body. She raised her weapon above her had with a reverence one reserves for the most holy of items or acts, in a finishing blow, then brought it down, almost to Ranma's head before it stopped. Ranma-chan had flipped over, and was now straining to hold back Ukyou attack. Ukyou's eyes went aflame with anger, and she pushed against Ranma with all of her strength, throwing her weight into it too.  
  
But Ranma-chan held, pushing Ukyou back ever so slowly. Then she did something amazing, she let go of Ukyou's combat spatula, rolled to the side as the point buried itself in the space her head had previously occupied a moment before. She grabbed her staff up from where it had landed after the hit, then performed a full back flip into the air and behind Ukyou from her crouched position. Before the ninja had time to react, Ranma-chan threw her staff over Ukyou's head, then pulled it into a choke hold on Ukyou's tracheae.  
  
"Do you yield?" Ranma-chan whispered into Ukyou's ear, the first spoken words since the battle began. Ukyou said nothing, only glared, and Ranma pulled the staff tighter against her wind pipe, making it very difficult for Ukyou to breathe. This continued for another few, tense moments, the rain coming down even harder then before. Ukyou cried, the tears mixing with the rain water as they made their way down her face. Ranma-chan was caught off guard by the sudden mood swing, and loosed her choke hold on the girl. Ukyou slipped out of it, falling limply to the sodden grass as she cried her eyes out. Ranma-chan stood there, looking down on the pitiful form that was her best friend, her only friend from childhood. Then she knelt down by the sobbing girl, kissed her gently on the cheek, and whispered something into her ear, too quietly to be heard over the downpour of rain.  
  
Ukyou looked up, the rain washing away the traces of her tears. She smiled, whispered something back, then got up and left with all the speed possible. The crowd dispersed, many of them happy to have seen such a good fight, though several were unhappy about having to pay out to Nabiki again. Ranma-chan moved over to where Shampoo and Akane stood, a slight wince scrunching her face. "C'mon, let's go, I need to get out of this rain." Ranma said as she waited, her arm holding her side, over her broken ribs. Shampoo was absolutely bursting with pride at Ranma's incredible display of skill and prowess, particularly considering it had been his first real battle. Akane on the other hand, was awestruck. She stared at Ranma blankly, having barely even noticed that she had moved from her original spot. Comprehension returned to her eyes as she noticed something floating in the rainwater at Ranma-chan's feet, blood.  
  
"Ranma!" She shouted, concern entering her expression. "You're bleeding!" She exclaimed as she ran over to her and pried her hands away from her side, exposing the bloody gash in her side. Ranma-chan winced as the rainwater hit the wound again.  
  
"It's nothing, I'll be fine . . ." But Akane would hear nothing of it.  
  
"No, this is a serious injury and it needs to be tended to." She ripped some fabric from her skirt and tied it across the gash. "There, that'll do until we can get you to Dr. Tofu." She said as she stood. Ranma- chan couldn't help but smile as he looked at the Tendo girl in a new light. Then Shampoo came forward, concern painted on her own pretty face.  
  
"Are you going to be okay Ranma?" Hearing Shampoo talk brought Ranma's attention to her.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine Shampoo." Shampoo paused a moment, figuring what she wanted to say in her mind.  
  
"If that hit from spatula girl Ukyou caused that wound, how were you able to beat her?" Ranma looked off in the direction Ukyou had escaped by.  
  
"She let me win."  
  
Author's Notes: Well, that's my fourth addition to this series and I still have more to write. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my fic, you were all very helpful, I'm just sorry that this one couldn't be very long, though I expect the next to be much longer. Oh yeah, if anyone happens to know Ukyou's last name, I'd be happy to know, sadly I haven't been able to watch Ranma ½ in a while. So, see you next time in  
  
Episode 5  
  
The Coming of the Amazons! 


	5. The Coming of the Amazons

Ranma ½: A New Beginning  
  
An anime fanfiction written immortalwriter@squaresoftrules.com  
  
Episode 5: The Coming of the Amazons  
  
Author's notes: Hey everybody! I am very sorry about taking so long with the fifth episode, but I just got done with fighting one of the most severe cases of Writer's Block that I've ever had. But it's here now! Although I do have one more apology to make, I feel obligated to say I'm sorry to all of the people who prefer Rumiko Takahashi's much lighter style of storytelling, but it looks like this might actually get pretty dark. Either way, read on!  
  
  
  
"(Come along Mousse, we have to find out how Shampoo is faring!)" Cologne said angrily as she prepared herbs for a spell. Mousse shook his head.  
  
"(Why did you have to force Shampoo to go after that girl, she seemed nice enough.)" Cologne glared back at Mousse.  
  
"(It is Amazon tradition to avenge any and all losses of honor.)" She said very slowly, as if she were talking to a child. Mousse's facial expression gained a slight tinge of anger.  
  
"(Do you even care that your own grand daughter could die over your tradition?!)"  
  
"(Shampoo won't die, I've trained her too well to go and do that.)"  
  
"(Dammit you old hag, do you even care about her one bit?!)" Mousse snapped out with a shout. Cologne turned, her eyes aflame with anger.  
  
"(Yes I do care about her, she is my great grand daughter! And now, I've had enough of your insolence!)" She cast the spell she had been preparing, amking Mousse vanish in the puff of smoke. "(Maybe a teleportation to Jusenkyo will teach you some manners!)" She said angrily as she went off to get another set of ingredients for the spell. Though she didn't notice that Mousse's glasses had fallen on the floor when he was teleported away.  
  
  
  
"Ranma!" Ranma looked around the dark that he was currently in, trying to discern the source of the call. As he spun on his heel, he noticed a flash of reflected light and stopped. Out of the inky darkness, ran the figure of Shampoo. At first, Ranma was happy to see the beautiful chinese girl, but as he looked at her pretty face, he noticed that it was twisted in fear. Shampoo ran, then stumbled and began to fall. "Ranma!" She screamed again. Ranma reached out toward the falling girl and he tried to run to her. But he moved with infinite slowness, as tears fell from Shampoo's eyes. Ranma jumped, trying desperately to save the girl. But as his hands found their way under her falling form, he heard a swish, like wind through bare tree branches. He looked up to see a sword coming in at him from above. He ducked his head, and as he did so, he realized that the weapon wasn't meant to hit him.  
  
"No!" He shouted as he looked up and saw the blade go cleanly through Shampoo, shattering her into a thousand shards of glass. The shards penetrated his skin as they fell, and he looked at his hands, shards of Shampoo's former being sticking out of them, his now flowing life blood mixing with her spilled crimson. He then looked up as another flash of light caught his eye, and he found himself starring at a shadowed figure, wearing a white robe with long sleeves, and a single chain hanging out of the left one, his right hand gripping the hilt of a bloody katana tightly. Ranma stared up at the silhouetted figure, and cursed him. A single menacing eye, and a frighteningly curved smile showed through the veil of darkness as the figure raised his sword for the final blow.  
  
  
  
"No!" Ranma shouted as he flung his head up from his pillow. He looked around, and realized where he really was. Then he felt a twinge in his chest. "Ohhh." Ranma collapsed back into his bed, his ribs and bandaged side protesting vehemently that he NOT get up again. Ranma then noticed the sound of an angry argument going on just beyond his closed door. He listened carefully, but couldn't quite make out what was being said, until his door burst open.  
  
"Ranma will heal faster with my help!" Shampoo yelled to Akane as she tried to squeeze into Ranma's room, despite the clinging Tendo girl.  
  
"I'm not going to let you put any of your weird "ancient chinese secrets" on Ranma, you'll probably slow his healing!" The two continued to fight each other for entry into the room, until Ranma spoke,  
  
"Akane, let Shampoo in, that salve does help." The pair paused, realizing that Ranma was awake.  
  
"Ranma! You're awake!" They said, Shampoo with one hand on Akane's face, holding her back, and the other holding the salve high in the air, out of Akane's reach. Then it dawned on Shampoo that Ranma had just superceded Akane's authority and given her permission to enter.  
  
"Ai ya!" Shampoo let go of Akane's face and leapt to Ranma's side, leaving the overbalanced Tendo to fall on her face. "Thank you Ranma, Akane thought I was going to hurt you!" She began to rub the cream into Ranma's bandaged side, causing him to wince in pain momentarily, thought it quickly vanished, along with the gash.  
  
"Wow." Ranma commented as he looked at his formerly injured side. "That was fast." Shampoo's happy smile widened.  
  
"I found some very good herbs at the high school, though, I'm out of the rest of the ingredients, and those only grow in China." Her head dipped low in shame, until she felt Ranma's hand on her shoulder.  
  
"It's okay Shampoo, it's not your fault I keep getting beaten up." Shampoo smiled at Ranma again, and he returned it, until he felt the twinge again. "Can you do anything about my ribs with that stuff?" He asked, keeping the sudden pain out of voice.  
  
"No Ranma, the salve only works on external wounds, not internal."  
  
"Nuts." He said as he snapped his fingers. Shampoo laughed musically.  
  
"Don't worry Ranma, you heal very fast just naturally." Ranma then happened to look over to where Akane had fallen, and noticed that the spot was suddenly vacant. 'Curious.' He thought as he turned back to the smiling Shampoo.  
  
"Thank you Shampoo, I couldn't have fought Ukyou so well without your help."  
  
"You're welcome Ranma, Shampoo happy to give Ranma fighting lessons."  
  
"Shampoo! Breakfast is ready!" Kasumi shouted up from the table. Ranma was just about to leap out bed and dash for the breakfast table, when his ribs made them selves know yet again, this time, more painfully.  
  
"Ow!" He shouted.  
  
"Ranma, are you okay?" Shampoo asked cautiously.  
  
"It's okay Shampoo, my ribs are just trying to tell never to move again." Ranma said with a sardonic smile that was twinged with just a little bit of a grimace. Shampoo crouched down next to Ranma, putting her arm around him.  
  
"I'll help you down the stairs." Ranma put his own arm around her shoulders and with her help, managed to get down the stairs. As they came into view, Ranma noticed Akane sitting at the table, her eyes wide when she saw Ranma being helped down the stairs by Shampoo. But when she realized that Ranma was looking at her, she quickly averted her gaze. 'What is up with her? She hated me when I first got here.' As Ranma thought on those things, Shampoo gingerly took him down the last few stairs and over to the table, gently putting him in his seat, then taking up her position next to him. Kasumi came through the kitchen door, carrying a small pot filled with miso, though she nearly dropped it when she noticed Ranma sitting at the table.  
  
"Ranma! You didn't have to come to the table, I was going to bring this up to you!" She held up the pot.  
  
"Sorry Kasumi, I didn't know." Ranma then noticed that something was missing from the breakfast table, Genma was missing. "What happened to Pop?" Shampoo's eyes hardened.  
  
"I sent him on a trip, he'll be back around nightfall." Ranma then happened to notice the man-shaped hole in the ceiling.  
  
"I see." He said solemnly. "I'm supposing that he was going to ask me if I had secured a marriage yet, right?" Ranma asked as he eyed Soun, who was at the moment cautiously peeking around the kitchen door and throwing Shampoo frightened glances.  
  
"Hai." Shampoo nodded.  
  
"And I'm also supposing that is why Soun seems to be afraid to enter the same room as you, right?" He asked with a grin.  
  
"Hai." Shampoo smiled, until there came the clang of chopsticks on china.  
  
"I'm done." Akane announced as she rose from the table and gathered her school things. Ranma looked confused.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, not understanding what was going on.  
  
"You had better hurry up and get ready too Shampoo, or you'll be late to school!" Kasumi cried as she looked at the clock.  
  
"What about me!?" Ranma cried as Shampoo charged about, gathering her books together.  
  
"You can't go to school with broken ribs!" Kasumi told him, though she thought she thought of something and paused. "In fact, I should probably take you to Dr. Tofu, you'll need his help to get better." Shampoo turned to Ranma before she left the door.  
  
"Bye Ranma, see you after school!" Ranma's plea for help died in his throat, and his outstretched hand wilted, falling to his side.  
  
"Alright, let's go." He said quietly, resigned to his fate.  
  
  
  
Ranma sat in a small, quaint waiting room, fidgeting as he heard a crack, something like a bone snapping. He never had liked doctors before, and a bad experience in his youth while traveling with Genma didn't help matters at all.  
  
"Bye." He said quickly as he stood, ignoring the pain signals his ribs sent to his brain, and sprinting for the door. Kasumi, without even looking up from the magazine she was reading, grabbed the sleeve of Ranma's shirt and pulled him back down into his seat. Ranma managed to sit for a few more seconds, but then he stood and announced, "I'm going to the bathroom!" But before he could even take one step, Kasumi pinned him with a menacing glare.  
  
"Sit." As if pushed by some invisible force, Ranma crashed back down into his seat. Suddenly, the door to Dr. Tofu's sanctum crashed open, and out of the dark, flickering light that filled the doorway, stepped a kindly old man, smiling happily. Ranma, who at the moment was hanging from a lighting fixture of the ceiling, dropped to the floor.  
  
"Next, please." Called out a rather pleasant, friendly sounding voice. Ranma looked back at Kasumi,  
  
"Aren't you going to come with me?" She smiled wryly,  
  
"Trust me, you don't want me in there with you." But then the smile disappeared. "Now go on, get in there." She urged. Ranma visibly swallowed, then took a few, tentative steps forward. Suddenly, a scream rang out, making Ranma's hair stand on end. Then, the flickering illumination in Dr. Tofu's office vanished, and was replaced by the glare of typical fluorescent lights.  
  
"Sorry about that." Said a man, probably Dr. Tofu as his head popped around the door frame. "That last patient had a bit of a psychotic aversion, he needs some special treatment." He looked Ranma over for a moment. "Well, come in." Ranma nodded, and strode into the office, his knees only shaking slightly. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" He asked as he closed the door.  
  
"Well, I think I shattered a couple of ribs." Ranma tried hard not to seem nervous as the doctor gave him a more in-depth inspection.  
  
"How did you do that?" Dr. Tofu asked as he made lazy circles around the young martial artist.  
  
"A fight with a ninja girl who wanted to kill me." Ranma had been unable to come up with a convincing enough story, so he decided to go with the truth. But rather than outrightly laughing at Ranma's story, Tofu only continued to circle, making Ranma shudder slightly as his mind analogized Dr. Tofu to a vulture. "You believe me?" He asked curiously, following the doctor's path with his eyes.  
  
"Yes, I saw your fight with the girl, I"m supposing you fell prey to a curse of Jusenkyo?" Ranma nodded, and Tofu stopped circling him. "As I thought, you know, you are a rather good martial artist, where did you learn to fight like that, particularly after that blow to your ribs?"  
  
"My father and I have been on a training journey since I was six and we've been all over the world, learning every technique and skill we could find. My skills with weapons were taught to me by a Chinese Amazon, Shampoo." Tofu nodded.  
  
"I met the girl, she was very enthusiastic about searching for you a week or two ago." Ranma smiled happily and let out a little chuckle.  
  
"Yeah, that sound like Shampoo." Tofu took his hand off of it's position on his chin, dropping the "Thinker" pose.  
  
"Thank you for indulging my nosiness, I just like to know what's going on in my patient's lives." He then gestured for Ranma to take a seat on the examination table. Ranma moved over, the short banter having banished most of his fears of the doctor, and took a seat in the center. "Now, let's have a feel of this before we take the x-rays." He placed his index and ring finger on the injured area, so lightly that Ranma barely felt it. "You also had a nasty cut, but it was healed by some powerful magic." He commented as he felt around a little bit. "Ah, the blade of her weapon was made of quicksilver, that explains her incredible speed, but lack of control." He whispered as he felt a small lump under Ranma's skin. Finally, he removed his fingers. "You have two badly broken ribs, and a shard of metal from the girl's spatula in there, you'll have to stay here for a few hours." Ranma shrugged.  
  
"All I'm missing is school, go right ahead."  
  
"Alright then, I'll start by removing the shard, and then we'll fix up your ribs."  
  
  
  
"There you go, good as new." Dr. Tofu announced brightly as he put the clasp on the bandages.  
  
"Wow, thanks Dr. Tofu, you're a lot better then I thought you'd be." Dr. Tofu smiled.  
  
"Well, I'm glad about that." Then, the clanging of a large bell reverberated through the room.  
  
"Just in time, school's letting out!" Ranma declared as he charged out the door, right past Kasumi.  
  
"See you later Ranma." Dr. Tofu whispered. "Only, it will be on different terms next time." He said sinisterly, watching the receding form of the young, pigtailed martial artist.  
  
  
  
"I can't believe you!" Akane screamed at Shampoo as they walked out of the school grounds. "That "ancient chinese secret" can't really have healed Ranma like that, it's just not possible!" Shampoo laughed.  
  
"I never lie, that salve can heal all but the most severe of external wounds!" She declared with finality. Which was rather convenient, since that happened to be the moment that Ranma choose to appear.  
  
"Hey Shampoo! Hey Akane!" He shouted to them. The pair of girls turned at the sound of Ranma's voice.  
  
"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo shouted back excitedly, while Akane remained strangely silent. He came to a stop before them and asked,  
  
"What did I miss?"  
  
"Not much, the teacher's just passed out a bunch of homework sheets, these are yours." Shampoo held up what looked like several hours worth of worksheets.  
  
"Oh man, this is going to take all night!" Ranma wailed as he took the sheets.  
  
"It's okay Ranma, they're not that hard." Shampoo said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Behind the two, Akane snorted in derision.  
  
"Break it up you two, we have to get home!" She said as she brushed through the two, knocking Shampoo's hand off of Ranma's shoulder. Shampoo glared at Akane as she passed by her, but grudgingly took up marching behind her. 'What's going on between those two?' Ranma thought as he watched the Tendo girl and Amazon march off. Then he shrugged and followed after.  
  
  
  
"You take the square of the hypotenuse . . ." Ranma whispered as he fried his brain trying to do the math work sheet that had been assigned. He paused for a moment as a shiver ran up his spine. "Something is wrong."  
  
  
  
"What do you want Akane, why did you bring me out here?" Shampoo asked Akane angrily as they stood in the darkness of the Nermina night, out by the koi pond.  
  
"Shampoo, we need to talk about Ranma." Shampoo nodded.  
  
"Yes?" She asked, feeling unusually impatient as she stood out in the open air of the garden with the other girl.  
  
"I lo . . ." Akane started, but she was halted by the arrow that thudded into the tree right by her arm. "What?" She managed to say before a second arrow came in, piercing through her right should and pinning her to the tree she had been standing in front of. She screamed as her nerves sent signals of intense pain to her brain. One last arrow came in, aimed at her throat, but it was grabbed from the air by Shampoo.  
  
"Show yourself! Stop attacking from the shadows like a coward!" She shouted as she unsheathed her sword, an item she had luckily brought with her due to the slight tickling in the back of her mind, one that said something wrong was going to happen. Then came the sound of wood dropping to the ground, and then a rather strange one, like a snake shooting through the underbrush. A chain burst from the foliage by the side of the garden, catching Shampoo off guard and almost taking her head off. But her reflexes reacted on instinct, honed from years of fighting, making her drop into a crouch below the chain, which smashed a fair sized chunk out of the garden wall. Out of the bush ran a figure, dark as the night around him, and almost invisible. He held a fine long sword that gleamed in the wan moonlight, and the chain that was now embedded in the garden wall led back into his left sleeve. Shampoo readied her own blade, preparing for the a charge slash, which appeared to be her opponent's plan of attack. What she wasn't expecting was for the shadowed warrior to rip his chain from the wall, and it brained her across the back of her head. She fell to the ground, barely conscious, and watched in horror as the warrior approached her, his sinister smile gleaming through the veil of darkness that surrounded the rest of his face. Shampoo whimpered weakly, for some reason, she feared what this mysterious man would do next more then anything else in the world. He stood over her, and licked his lips, making Shampoo shudder. Out of nowhere, and with no more sound then a cherry blossom makes falling to the ground, Ranma flew through the air and delivered a powerful kick to the shadowed warrior's head, sending him crashing right into the wall on the other side of the garden. The warrior regained his feet quickly, and growled like a feral wolf.  
  
"Leave them alone!" Ranma shouted as he fell back into a combat stance, trying to be ready for whatever attack was forthcoming. But the warrior seemed to reconsider his course of action when he saw Ranma. He turned and leapt out of the garden, disappearing into the blackness of the night before Ranma could give chase. Or rather, that was what it looked like, though in reality, Ranma couldn't have followed, the pain coming from his ribs was intense, and he was already having a hard time just standing. Then he noticed Akane. "Oh my god Akane!" He shouted as he ran over to the injured Tendo girl. He looked at her arm and winced, the arrow had gone completely through her shoulder and it was bleed quite a bit. Ranma reached for the arrow, but Shampoo stopped him.  
  
"No, the arrow will be barbed, these are Amazon weapons." Ranma nodded, and stepped back, deferring to Shampoo's expertise. She stepped forward and snapped the top end of the shaft off, but didn't take the out the rest of the arrow. "It will worsen the bleeding if we take the last of the arrow out." Ranma looked up into Akane's drawn face, it was obvious that the arrow was causing her great pain, but she still managed to hold her composure, something Ranma admired at that moment. Then the rest of the Tendo family came out, they had been asleep, then awakened by the scream and brought outside by the sounds of the fight.  
  
"What's going on here?!" Soun shouted as he came outside, though the question vanished from his mind when he noticed his youngest daughter. "Akane!"He ran over to her, and nearly cried when he saw the arrow wound.  
  
"We need to get you to Dr. Tofu!" Ranma yelled, and Akane nodded weakly, which prompted the whole of the residents of the Tendo Dojo to go off in search of the good doctor's home.  
  
"Dr. Tofu!" Soun shouted as he pounded on the door to the clinic. "Dr. Tofu, please open up, it's an emergency!" But no answer came, there was no indication that anyone was even inside the clinic. While Soun's attention was on the door, a swish came from above, and Ranma looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of a black form flying over the clinic, and disappearing behind the building. 'What the . . .?' Ranma wondered, though he was broken out of his reverie when the lights in the clinic came on. The door opened and out stepped Dr. Tofu. "Thank god!" Soun said,  
  
"Dr. Tofu, we need your help, someone shout Akane with an arrow!" Dr. Tofu looked over the injured girl's form and nodded gravely.  
  
"Bring her in." The Tendo patron and daughter's quickly brought Akane in, while Ranma remained outside. 'What is going on here?' Ranma wondered again as he watched the door to Dr. Tofu's clinic swing ponderously closed.  
  
  
  
"No!" Akane shouted as she struggled against Kasumi's surprisingly strong grip. "I have to go to school!" Kasumi sighed.  
  
"No Akane, you need to stay home and rest." But Akane continued to struggle.  
  
"No Kasumi, you don't understand, I have to go to school!!" Kasumi didn't allow the argument to continue any further, just carried the struggling Tendo girl up the stairs.  
  
"She is freakishly strong." Ranma commented as he watched, astonished, while Kasumi carried Akane up the stairs almost effortlessly. Next to him at the table, Shampoo nodded and finished her miso. Something occurred to Ranma.  
  
"Shampoo, you said that the weapons that guy used were Amazon weapons, did you know him?" Shampoo shook her head.  
  
"No, I only recognized his sword and the type of bow he was using, it fires arrows almost silently." Ranma nodded.  
  
"Okay, I was hoping you might know when he would attack next."  
  
"C'mon you two!" Akane shouted as she came charging down the stairs, still buttoning up her school shirt. Kasumi was running just a little behind her, shouting for Akane to stop fooling around, and that, even if they'd used the very last of Shampoo's salve to heal the wound up, she still needed to rest since she lost so much blood. But she payed her older sister no heed, only ran on in the direction of Furinken High. Ranma and Shampoo turned to face each other, confusion reigning in both of their eyes. Then they both shrugged, grabbing their school bags, and following the two screaming girls.  
  
  
  
After about ten minutes of all out running, Kasumi finally caught up to the faster, but weaker Akane. Minutes after that, she passed by Ranma and Shampoo, a bound and gagged Akane slung over her shoulder. When he was sure that she was out of earshot, Ranma leaned over to Shampoo and whispered.  
  
"Remind me not to cross her." Shampoo nodded, a little fear showing in her own lavender orbs. Suddenly, a voice rang out in Chinese,  
  
"(Shampoo!)" Turning at the sound of the familiar voice, Shampoo found herself looking at a young man she knew well, wearing his simple robe with it's extra large, and long sleeves.  
  
"(Mousse!)" She shouted happily as she ran to the young, male Amazon, and wrapped him in a bear hug. They separated, and Shampoo smiled widely. "(Mousse! Where have you been? I haven't seen you since I left the village to pursue Ranma!)"  
  
"(That's what I'm here to talk about Shampoo, there's no need for you to hunt that poor girl down!)" Shampoo blinked.  
  
"(Oh, don't worry about that, Ranma's right over there.)" She pointed at the young man in question. Mousse looked over at the MALE Ranma and turned back to Shampoo.  
  
"(Jusenkyo?)" Shampoo nodded, and Mousse threw Ranma a strangely sympathetic look.  
  
"(So, why haven't you come home yet, even the old ghoul's starting to worry about you.)" Shampoo blushed a bit.  
  
"(It's a long story.)" Mousse was slightly confused at Shampoo's reaction to the question, but before he could ask for the in-depth story, Ranma was already carrying Shampoo off, shouting as he went.  
  
"Sorry Shampoo, but we're gonna be late!"  
  
"(Sorry Mousse, bye!)" Shampoo shouted back to Mousse as Ranma carried her off.  
  
  
  
"Ranma!" Ranma stopped short, just inches from the door to the school, at the sound of the Blue Thunder's voice. He stepped out from behind a tree, as always, wearing his Kendo uniform and holding his bokken. "Now you not only enslave Akane Tendo and the pigtailed girl, but this poor chinese girl too? I shall free them from your domineering grip, Ranma Saotome!" With that said, Kuno flung himself at Ranma. With a quietly muttered "sorry", Ranma quickly set Shampoo down and spun back to face Kuno. He was already in Ranma's face, but his bokken was still held high above his head, giving Ranma a moment to duck down and slide under the sempai's up stretched arms. Kuno tried to bring his swing across and at least score a glancing blow on Ranma, but he failed as his legs were swept out from under him. Kuno hit the ground hard enough to see stars, or rather, chibi Ranma-chan's and Akane's. With the annoyance apparently stunned, Ranma charged on to try and get to class on time.  
  
  
  
But the bell thwarted him right as he stepped through the door.  
  
"Ranma Saotome!" Rang out a high, child like voice. 'What is it with everybody and using my full name!?' Ranma thought angrily as he moved to his seat, giving an excuse as he went. But when he sat down, he found what looked like a young child standing on his desk, hands on her hips and one foot rapidly tapping on the wood. "Excuse me for being so impatient, Mr. Saotome, but you have a reputation for not paying a lick of attention to any teacher." She said in her child like voice, then leaned in closer to his face. "Well, I won't stand for it." With a flicker of pseudo motion, the girl vanished and appeared back down at the podium. Ranma blinked. 'Who is she?!'  
  
"My name is Ms. Hinako, but you can call me Hinako-sensi, I will be your new English teacher. Now that we're acquainted, let's begin class."  
  
  
  
"Good job class, I think this will work out very well, you are dismissed." Hinako-sensi said from behind her desk moment's before the bell rang. The class rushed out, Ranma along for the ride, until Hinako-sensi's voice rang out again. "Ranma!" He paused, surprised by her sudden informal address of him.  
  
"Yes, Hinako-sensi?"  
  
"Watch your back." There was no malice in her voice, only quiet concern.  
  
"I will." He said, somewhat confused by the warning.  
  
  
  
"Ohhhhh, the pain!" Genma whispered as he lay on the floor in the living room. Next to him lay Ranma and Shampoo, both moaning just about the same thing. Akane came into the room bearing a tray with a bowl of some sinister soup. As soon as Ranma and Shampoo saw Akane returning with a second course, they were up on their feet, limping toward the door. Akane noticed them.  
  
"Ranma, Shampoo, where are you going? Don't you want to try my miso?" They cringed at the sound of Akane's voice, but Ranma turned quickly and said,  
  
"Oh no, Akane! We'd love to try your miso, but we just couldn't eat another bite, we're just so full from those shrimp you gave us earlier. So, bye!" Ranma shouted as he flung the door open and charged out of the house, Shampoo following him.  
  
"They were clams!" Akane shouted after them, then turned to her one remaining "taster", who whimpered pitifully as Akane pulled a slightly dissolved spoon out of the bubbling broth and brought it to his lips.  
  
  
  
Ranma wasn't quite sure where Shampoo was now, in his mad dash to get away from Akane's lethal food, he had managed to get himself separated from her at some point. But he stopped running when he felt something well up in his lungs, then doubled over on the ground, coughing up blood.  
  
"I really shouldn't have done that." He whispered as he wiped his lips on his shirt sleeve. Just then, he heard the sound of fluttering cloth coming from behind him, and slightly above. He turned and looked up to the warrior from the night before, his sword in his right hand and a single chain hanging out of his left sleeve, the shining moon behind him a stark contrast to his dark form.  
  
"Oh no." Ranma whispered. Slung over his right shoulder, lavender tresses shimmering in the moonlight, was Shampoo's still form. The only thing that showed of the warrior's face, was one eye, and his wickedly curved smile.  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: Uh oh! Who is this shadowy figure?! (Well, you've probably already figured it out, but if that's the case, then here's a question for you, WHY is he doing it?) So, what did you think? Reviews are somewhat of a driving force for me, so every little bit helps, and I'll try and get the next one out of my system before my Writer's Block catches up to me. 


End file.
